Pathfinder

Have you ever asked yourself, What is a print? Well, look no further than this pathfinder to learn more about one particular method, screen printing!  Find out more about its history and techniques with books at your local library, various sources available online, as well as local opportunities for exploration. Compiled by Linda Nguyễn for LIS 7040 Winter 2011.

Foreclose on the 1%
“Foreclose on the 1%” by Dignidad Rebelde

Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A roller or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink past the threads of the woven mesh in the open areas.

Screen printing is also a stencil method of print making in which a design is imposed on a screen of silk or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance, and ink is forced through the mesh onto the printing surface. It is also known as silkscreen, seriography, and serigraph.

Screen printing. (2011, March 2). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


Printmaking Processes: Screenprinting by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, an excellent video demonstrating various screen printing processes with Macalester Professor of Art Ruthann Godollei

Visit your local library!

Saint Paul Public Library
Central Library Branch
90 West Fourth Street
Phone: 651-266-7000

Sunday: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Monday: 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Tuesday through Saturday: 9:30 am – 5:30 pm

Check out books available

Request books not yet available

  • Dillon, Jamie and Nick Paparone. Print Liberation: The Screen Printing Primer.  Cincinnati: North Light Books, 2008.
  • MacPhee, Josh, ed. Paper Politics: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today. Oakland: PM Press, 2009.
  • MacPhee, Josh and Favianna Rodriguez, eds. Reproduce & Revolt/Reproduce Y Rebélate. Berkeley: Soft Skull Press, 2008.

Some Subject Headings to out look for

  • Screen process printing: the process of printing through fabric plates or screens, particularly on a commercial or industrial scale.
  • Serigraphy: the silk screen process as performed by an artist in producing an original print from his own design.
  • Prints — Technique.
  • Prints — History.

Mother's Milk
“Mother’s Milk” from Taller Tupac Amaru

Arts & Humanities Databases from the Electronic Library for Minnesota

  • Academic Search Premier
  • MasterFILE Premier
  • Expanded Academic ASAP

Selected articles for your consideration

  • De Miranda, Michael A. et al. “Silk Screening Across the Curriculum.” Tech Directions 59.10 (2000).
  • Fisher, Agnes. “Silkscreens.” Arts & Activities 116.4 (1994). 
  • Foeldvari, Donna. “Screen Printed Action.“ School Arts 97 (1997).
  • Iris, Bonnie, and M. Stephen Doherty. “Reductive Screen Prints.” American Artist 64 (2000).
  • James, Terry. “Prints that Parallel Paintings.” American Artist 58 (1994).
  • Kreneck, Lynwood. “Water-Based Screenprinting.” School Arts 89 (1989).
  • Paul, Kenneth. “The Healthy Screenprinter.”School Arts 89 (1989).
  • Skvarla, John “Superfly”. “Screen-Printing for Under $75.” Ride BMX 15.4 (2006).
  • Young, Bernard, Cedric A. Lowmack, and Gail Porcelli-McIntosh. “Learning Serigraphy.”  School Arts 91 (1991).

Union Made

“Union Made” from Justseeds

Local organizations in the Twin Cities

Highpoint offers education and community programs for everyone, including Free Ink Days! and ACCESS/PRINT Project, a program for high school youth.

The MCBA offers introductory workshops on screen printing, as well as open studio time.

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